[ossig] The Netherlands going OSS, Microsoft objects

[Hasannudin Saidin]

Ditesh,

You wanna write to the author and clarify to him the difference between
open source and open standards? You once reported on the Dutch plan for
open standards:
http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2007/09/the-dutch-plan-.html#comment-93379808

The author is probably this guy: http://www.tobysterling.net


Or perhaps "Open Office XML" (sic) from Microsoft is indeed going open
source?


Hasan.





                                                                           
             Ditesh Kumar                                                  
             <ditesh at gathani.o                                             
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                                       [ossig] The Netherlands going OSS,  
             12/14/2007 04:39          Microsoft objects                   
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The Netherlands is deciding to use OSS but Microsoft is the only one
objecting (just as they did in Malaysia).

Gerald, care to comment?

---
From
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_hi_te/netherlands_open_source;_ylt=Aiq9G3BD9k_R3v3L4GwXJzkjtBAF



AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The Dutch government has set a soft deadline of
April 2008 for its agencies to start using open-source software — freely
distributed programs that anyone can modify — the Netherlands Economic
Affairs Ministry said Thursday.

Government organizations will still be able to use proprietary software
and formats but will have to justify it under the new policy, ministry
spokesman Edwin van Scherrenburg said.

Van Scherrenburg said the plan was approved unanimously at a meeting of
two parliamentary commissions on Wednesday.

Many governments worldwide have begun testing open-source software to
cut costs and eliminate dependency on individual companies such as
Microsoft Corp. The government estimates it would save $8.8 million a
year on city housing registers alone after switching to open source.

Microsoft has raced to achieve "open source" certification for its Open
Office XML standard, but has so far failed to receive endorsement from
the International Standards Organization, the certifying authority
recognized by the Dutch government.

Microsoft Netherlands spokesman Hans Bos noted that its Word documents
were still allowed as equal alternatives for the moment and said he
expects the company to receive approval soon for its Open Office XML to
qualify as open source.

But he said the company was worried about and opposed other aspects of
the Dutch policy, especially the provision that agencies should prefer
open source.

"We think it's not in the best interest of the wider software market to
single out one model for endorsement like this," he said.

The numerous European towns and cities, notably Munich, Germany, and
Vienna, Austria, using open-source systems remain a tiny slice of the
overall software market.

The Dutch policy directs government organizations at the national level
to be ready to use the Open Document Format to save documents by April,
and at the state and local level by 2009.


--
  May your signals all trap                     Ditesh Kumar
May your references be bounded                ditesh at gathani.org
      All memory aligned                http://ditesh.gathani.org/blog
    Floats to ints rounded              http://www.openmalaysiablog.com


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